Philothamnus battersbyi
Silhouette: Alex Slavenko · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~40% in a week ~70%
Philothamnus battersbyi, also known commonly as Battersby's green snake, is a species of snake in the family Colubridae. The species is native to northeastern Africa. The specific name, battersbyi, is in honor of British herpetologist James Clarence Battersby (1901–1993).
P. battersbyi is found in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. P. battersbyi is found in a variety of natural habitats close to water, including forest, savanna, grassland, and freshwater wetlands, at altitudes from sea level to 2,600 m (8,500 ft). It has also been found in polluted streams in major cities.
The holotype of P. battersbyi, an adult female, has a snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 76.2 cm (30.0 in) and a tail length of 28.3 centimetres (11.1 in). P. battersbyi is arboreal and diurnal. P. battersbyi preys upon amphibians, which may include caecilians, frogs, and toads.
P. battersbyi is oviparous. Clutch size is 3–11 eggs. Some communal nesting has been observed, with as many as 40 adult females laying over 100 eggs together in one nest. Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nairobi | 🇰🇪 Kenya |
No species of the same family or order lives in Nairobi, so these are its closest relatives here: other reptiles.
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report a Battersby's Green Snake sighting in Nairobi on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 6th most-seen of the 9 reptiles we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 40%, and over a week to about 70%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January–April, September and November
In those months about 20% of wildlife watchers report a Battersby's Green Snake in Nairobi on a given day, against under 5% in May–June, October and December, the lowest months.
Between 10 am and 1 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Battersby's Green Snake sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Only Nairobi, in our data
Nairobi is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Battersby's Green Snake sightings: about 10% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Battersby's Green Snake is recorded against all the reptiles logged in Nairobi (8 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
